Falcons eye post-season play

Fabian Sandler

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, August 28, 2002

We had the opportunity to win eight ball games, should have won seven. I'm very pleased with the progress we've made so far. The year before we got here they were 1-9. We had to revamp, do a lot of things differently, but we're making great progress right now."

Coach McDougald was with Humble ISD for 20 years, the last 12 years as assistant head coach.

"Last year, when I was hired, the one thing they wanted in Huffman was to make sure we ran our program based on character, integrity and discipline. Not so much worry about wins and losses. Academics first, character development, taking care of our kids, but we're also very competitive people."

"I'm to the point, I've been coaching long enough — in Humble we were in the playoffs nine years in a row, averaging over nine wins a year — that at this age it's really changed my perspective a lot. My number one priority is to take these young men and women and let them mature into good, productive citizens."

Married to Hubann for 22 years, they have three children, Lindsey, a junior, Chris, who's going into the 9th grade, and 6th grader Matt.

McDougald says they have a good staff. Every coach they brought in is from a 5A program. The assistant coaches include Buddy Thames, assistant head coach, defensive coordinator; Clayton Maple, offensive coordinator and running backs coach; Kerry Miller, special teams and wide receivers; Kevin Janek, offensive line; Jared Burt, quarterbacks and outside linebackers; Sid Creech, inside linebackers; and Kelly Mead, defensive backs and wide receivers. Mead went to high school in Huffman.

The Falcons run a split-defense, 4-4-3: four down linemen, four linebackers and three defensive ends, including a free safety in the middle.

"We call it a multiple eight-man front because we do a lot of things out of it," said McDougald.

McDougald said he believes his breakout players will be Nick Davis, Austin Griffith, Curtis Crew, Robert Copeland, Josh Jordan, Dustin Judd, Scotty McGee, Brent Maxwell and Josh Reid. Davis and Griffith are outside linebackers who are expected to be standout players. McDougald was quick to point out that the program has many outstanding athletes.

"I'm proud of all our football players," said McDougald, "but there's a young man named Robert Copeland that really excites me. Robert is a returning starter on the offensive line. He will probably play some defensive tackle for us also. There's an award in Houston called the George W. or George Bush Award, through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes program (FCA) that encompasses the greater Houston area. They look for athletes that exhibit great character, good students, academically very strong; just top-notch student athletes. [The FCA] has narrowed the award down to three athletes in the greater Houston area, one from Kingwood, Robert from our school and one young man from inner-city Houston, I'm not sure what school it is. Those three are finalists for the award. Robert deserves everything that he can get. He's an outstanding young man."

The Falcons now play in an eight-team district, making it a competitive district, according to McDougald.

Reflecting on this season, McDougald said, "The last championship that was won here was in 1985 and most of our freshmen weren't even born. Our number one goal is to get in the playoffs. We'd love to be in first place, but for us to get in the playoffs, it would be a huge step for our program."

The Falcons take their first step in their journey this Friday night at Wallis Brazos. Game time will be 7:30 p.m.